WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 4, 2007— Robert E. Fulwider was inaugurated Sunday as the new chair of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”), with C. Brett Nilsson, CIC, and J. David Daniel assuming the offices of chair-elect and vice chair, respectively.  The new officers were sworn in at the Big “I” Leadership Conference in San Diego.

Fulwider is principal and president of the Ray Wuestenberg Agency, Inc. in West Liberty, Iowa, and the Fulwider Agency, Inc. in West Branch, Iowa.  He also is president of Bob Fulwider and Associates, a life-and-health financial-planning agency in eastern Iowa.

Fulwider has been very active in the Big “I” at the national and state levels since starting his career as an independent agent in 1973.  He is a past president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa (IIAI) and currently sits on its Education Committee.  He also is the only two-time Agent of the Year in IIAI history (1983, 1990) and was inducted into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame in 2003. Nationally, he is a past chairman of the Big “I” Government Affairs Committee and the association’s Crop Insurance Task Force, and he also has chaired several other Big “I” national committees, including Farm/Agribusiness, Personal Lines and Markets Development.  He also is served as a director on the national association’s Board.  He and his wife Jan have one adult child and live in West Liberty.

Nilsson is senior vice president for The Buckner Company, based in Salt Lake City. Prior to being elected to the Executive Committee in 2003, Nilsson served as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Utah from 1992-93.  He also served as a director on the Big “I” national board for nine years.  Nilsson was chairman of IIABA’s Finance Committee from 1999-2003, and served on IIABA’s Communications Committee.  He has been involved in the Trusted Choice® Big “I” Junior Classic golf tournament for a number of years.  Nilsson is a past recipient of Utah’s Agent of the Year and Young Agent of the Year awards, and he received an IIABA Presidential Citation in 2001.  In 2003, Nilsson received his state association’s highest individual honor, the Burgener Award, a distinction that has only been awarded five other times in the history of the Utah association.  He and his wife, Nancy, live in Layton, Utah.  They have four children and four grandchildren.

Daniel is president of Daniel & Eustis Insurance in Baton Rouge, La.  Prior to being elected to the Executive Committee, Daniel served on the Board of Directors of the Independent Insurance Agents of Louisiana (IIAL) for eight years before becoming president in 1997.  During his tenure on the board, he was chairman of the Commercial Lines Committee and a member of both the Legislative Affairs and Education Committees.  Daniel served as Louisiana’s director on the national board and has acted as the state association’s representative to the Louisiana Insurance Rating Commission.  For his commitment to the state association, Daniel has received IIAL’s Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Outstanding Committee Chairman Award. On the national level, Daniel has served on IIABA’s Technical Affairs Committee and was chairman of the Governance and Communication Task Force. Daniel is devoted to the community as well as the insurance industry.  He has been a member of the Capital City Kiwanis Club for 27 years and was awarded the prestigious George R. Hixson award for his community service.  He and his wife, Janet, have two children, Mary Rose and John.

Founded in 1896, the Big “I” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally.  Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.

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